With a joint workshop, we at the Asian Studies Centre want to explore our possibilities for interdisciplinary research on the topic of body and age(ing) in Asia, in line with the thematic year "Body and Religion" of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics".
We invite interested scholars who are interested in the Asian cultural area to participate in the planned workshop. Short presentations (10-15 minutes) are planned, followed by a joint discussion of the next steps. For this reason, we ask for expressions of interest with a brief outline of the topic. We are considering the first week of the semester in October 2025 as the date for the workshop, possibly the 16th, 17th (Thu/Fri) or possibly also the 18th of October (Sat); the specific date will be discussed together.
Please send your ideas to asienzentrum@uni-muenster.deby 31 May 2025. Please send any queries to Syrinx von Hees and/or Kerstin Storm.
In the summer semester 2025, the Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies will launch a new lecture series entitled "Sinological Lectures Münster":
Wednesday, 18 June 2025, 6 PM c.t. Prof. Dr. Marc Matten, Institut für Sprachen und Kulturen des Nahen Ostens und Ostasiens, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Marie Curie in China - Die Geschichte einer globalen Ikone [Lecture in German]
Translation and Multilingualism in Mongol and Post-Mongol Eurasia
From June 4 to 6, 2025, an interdisciplinary workshop titled Translation and Multilingualism in Mongol and Post-Mongol Eurasia will take place. The event is organized by Philip Bockholt (University of Münster) in cooperation with the START project NoMansLand of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The workshop explores how knowledge, texts, and concepts circulated across linguistic and cultural boundaries between the 13th and 17th centuries. It focuses on the multilingual societies of Eurasia, their translation practices, and the role of language in administration, science, and religion.
Discussions will address the functions of multilingual chancelleries, the role of astrological and astronomical texts in cultural transfer, and the translation of religious rituals in the Safavid Empire. Other topics include the adaptation of Chinese works into Persian contexts and translation strategies at the Ottoman court.
Bringing together scholars from various disciplines, the workshop offers valuable insights into the dynamics of premodern knowledge exchange and cultural interaction across Eurasia.
Further information and details on participation can be foundhere.
As part of the "Students for Students - Students report on their experiences in internships and studying abroad" series, in summersemester 2025 a student from the Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies will report on his experiences at China University of Political Science and Law中国政法大学 in Peking, PRC.
The event will take place on Monday, June 02, 2 PM c.t., in class room RS 23. Interested visitors are very welcome!
On May 22-24, 2025, the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies will host the XI Islamic Legal Studies Conference.
This congress is convened triennially by the International Society for Islamic Legal Studies (ISILS) and is one of the most distinguished transnational conventions in the field.
The symposium will launch with a roundtable discussion on “Researching and Teaching Sharīʿa in 2025”, followed by an opening panel “Belonging to a Madhhab: Formation, Cohesion and Diversity in Islamic Schools of Law”. In six additional panels, international experts will discuss various topics related to the history and present of Islamic law.
Everyone is very welcome to attend. Interested parties are kindly requested to register by May 7, 2025 via the conference website linked below. Students and staff of the university will be admitted free of charge.
The Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies invites submissions for its upcoming conference in Münster, Germany (November 20–22, 2025), which will explore Arabic poetry as a medium of knowledge.
We welcome contributions that address any form of poetry used to convey, transmit, or serve as a source of knowledge. Our understanding of “knowledge” is intentionally broad and inclusive.
For the upcoming summer semester, the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies warmly invites all interested parties to attend the lectures in our summer lecture series.
The lectures will begin at 6:15 p.m. and will take place at the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Schlaunstraße 2 (Room RS 225, 2nd floor).
The series will be opened on April 23rd by our colleague Dr. Asmaa Essakouti with a lecture titled "Realms of Strangers: A Book Talk on Maqamat al-Hariri and Why We Should Read It Today."
The Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies and the Institute for Missiology and the Study of Theologies Beyond Europe, in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Asian Studies Centre, invite to the international conference "Intercultural Knowledge Transfer in (Transregional) Asian Religious Contexts", which will take place from 13 to 15 November 2025 in Münster.
The call for papers has been launched, abstracts must be submitted to knowledgetransfer2025@uni-muenster.de by 30 April 2025.
